NBA trade deadline 2021: Lists of every restricted, available player

The NBA calendar hitting March 3 marks yet another significant date, as over a dozen free agents signed in the offseason are now eligible to be traded.

To get a better sense of the 2020-21 trade market, we have broken down the entire player pool into three categories below: expiring contracts, long-term deals and players still carrying trade restrictions.

We've organized these tables by player role (franchise centerpiece, All-Star, starter, reserve, etc.), salary and years remaining on their contracts. You can use these tables when attempting to determine what trades are possible across the league -- especially because 28 out of the 30 teams (only the New York Knicks and Charlotte Hornets have room) don't have cap space and will need to trade salaries that match within 125%, 175% or $5 million.

Teams including the Boston Celtics ($28.5 million), Oklahoma City Thunder ($27.3 million and $19.5 million), Denver Nuggets ($9.6 million), Philadelphia 76ers ($8.2 million) and Miami Heat ($7.6 million) can acquire a player without sending back salary because of a previously created trade exception.

The Golden State Warriors have a $9.25 million disabled player exception available but can only use it to trade for a player who is on an expiring contract.

MORE: NBA trade machine

Expiring contracts

Players on an expiring contract were once considered rentals.

That changed last year when the Utah Jazz acquired Jordan Clarkson and the LA Clippers added Marcus Morris Sr.

Both players had an immediate impact on their teams and were re-signed after entering free agency this past offseason.

Beyond the on-court benefits they got, both the Jazz and Clippers were able to take advantage of the signing rights they acquired in the trades -- full Bird rights for Clarkson and non-Bird rights for Morris -- to exceed the cap and retain a player they wouldn't have otherwise been able to add in free agency.

Without Bird or non-Bird rights, each team had only the $9.25 million midlevel exception available, far less than either Clarkson or Morris signed for.

That same thinking also applies to the Cavaliers acquiring Jarrett Allen.

Cleveland was not projected to have the necessary cap space in 2021 to sign Allen, but it has now acquired his Bird rights and can exceed the cap to retain him.

Two or more seasons remaining

This list of 325 players who have two or more years left on their contracts is top-heavy with franchise cornerstones, All-Stars, top starters and starters.

Out of the 50 players who earn more than $15 million, only the Heat's Andre Iguodala, the Timberwolves' Ricky Rubio and the Wizards' Davis Bertans are categorized as key reserves.

This is different from recent history when free agents who were signed after the cap spike in 2016 (Joakim Noah, Luol Deng and Timofey Mozgov, for example) were earning starter-level money but not in their teams' rotations.

The trade restrictions

No player in the NBA has a no-trade clause in his contract. However, that doesn't mean everyone is free to be traded.

Of the 431 players currently on rosters, 38 have some type of lingering restriction.

Here is that list, with an explainer below:

• One-year Bird rights: This restriction applies if a free agent signs a one-year contract and will have Bird rights with his current team when he becomes a free agent. A player can still be traded but must consent to the deal. If he does, the Bird rights do not transfer to his new team.

• Extension: Depending on the type of extension, a player becomes trade ineligible for either six months or one year. However, because of the condensed season, the restrictions for extensions are now shortened.

• Poison pill: For players still on their rookie deals before an extension kicks in, the NBA counts their fourth-year salary as outgoing money and the average of the extension amount and last year of their rookie contract as incoming money. One example: Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma would count as $3.5 million in outgoing salary for the Lakers but $10.6 million for an acquiring team.